Politics are often reduced to maxims that the average non-congressman types among us (myself included) can easily understand while sitting at the dinner table, little quips or "rules" we can throw around over conversation in a vain attempt to make everyone else think we know politics. These maxims generally consist of defining party lines and the basic difference between the two major parties. For example, Democrats tend to create more new taxes, and Republicans don't. This doesn't mean one is better than the other, mind you, it's just two different policies intended to reach the same financial goal and there are pros and cons to each approach.
The point is, it's maxims like that which made Obama so fascinating during the election. He broke the mold, so to speak. Remember his little half-hour infomercial before the election? The one clearly intended to snipe off those few remaining right-leaners on the political fence?
For those who don't remember, here it is below. If you have half an hour to kill, by all means watch, but I doubt most of you have half an hour to watch a useless political ad. So let it load for a while and take it to the 4:45 mark and watch what Obama promises:
See, that was the funny thing about Obama. A Democrat making a tax cut for the middle class a major part of his campaign rhetoric. It was the kind of thing that made me think "hey, this guy might be willing to play some bipartisan ball, use some common sense!"
Then, after a day or two in office, he made a speech in which he said some promises would have to be "delayed." Fine, I can deal with that, we're in a fiscal funk right now, I understand.
Now this comes along. $1 trillion in taxes over the next decade? Really? You promise a tax cut and then do this? I mean, I understand we're in a really bad recession but come on!
It's not the policy for me so much as the principle of the thing. Taxes are a fact of life. I guess I just feel a little (ok, a LOT) disappointed in this little move. I'm really pulling for Obama here, and I think he's made some good steps. But this sort of stunt tells me he's more of the typical politician than I wanted to believe.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
What Are These "Tax Cuts" of Which You Speak?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Top 10 Albums That Influenced My Life
I'm not talking about things like philosophical viewpoints or which albums shaped my opinions or anything. I prefer to think of it as the soundtrack of my life. The albums that I've listened to so much that they will always stay with me. Ok, so I cheated a bit with the Tool and Breaking Benjamin albums, but they're pretty much one contiguous album in my eyes.
1. Sunburn, Fuel
2. Aenima/Lateralus, Tool
3. Sixteen Stone, Bush
4. Saturate/We Are Not Alone, Breaking Benjamin
5. Morningview, Incubus
6. Wonder What's Next, Chevelle
7. Chronicle, Creedence Clearwater Revival
8. Happiness Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch, Our Lady Peace
9. The Blue Album, Weezer
10. Core, Stone Temple Pilots
Bleary-Eyed Blogging
I'm tired.
You see, I used to think I was "busy." I mean, after all, a full first-year class load at law school? 40-50 pages of reading a night? Toss a girlfriend and that time committment in there to boot. Then over the summer I worked two jobs. No rest for the weary, right? I had no idea.
Enter 2L year. People kept telling me "oh, don't worry, it just gets easier after your first year!" Wrong. Erroneous. False. I spent the whole semester writing a brief for Bristol County when I wasn't spending the rest of my time in the library trying to keep up with my Con Law II professor, who I'm pretty sure was an ethereal conglomeration of cosmic intelligence and light manifesting itself as an Eastern European male in his late twenties. Oh, also, I was helping my fiancee plan our wedding/honeymoon.
Now I've reached a tipping point. I have to write a brief that convinces a panel of judges that a foreign government official with a loaded gun in his house has qualified immunity from prosecution, and I have to do it in three days. This same week I need to prepare a direct examination for a witness for trial practice. And let's not forget that the entire cast of the school musical is counting on my band to polsih roughly 10 of songs by Thursday. Then we perform next week.
To compensate for my lack of time to study at home, I've been coming in to school extra early to read up on the Trusts & Estates assignment that morning so I have some semblance of an idea where we're headed when Ilana Hurwitz takes off at 80 mph as I type furiously to keep up until my computer starts smoking. So now I'm losing sleep too.
Something needs to be done. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to bend time and space to add a 25th hour to the day. Didn't Stephen Hawking do something about that? I think I'll ask him...add that to the list of things to do.
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